The Easiest Way to Cook a Whole Chicken

There are few things that I love in my kitchen more than my crock pot. Not only can it help me prepare the most delicious meals with minimal effort; it also continues to surprise me with the number and variety of jobs it can do. There’s also no food quite so simple to work with as a rotisserie chicken. Whenever I have one of those weeks where I’ve got way too much going on to prepare a meal, a fully-cooked rotisserie chicken picked up from the grocery store can be a lifesaver. So when I came across this trick that involved the crock pot and a whole chicken, I knew I just had to give it a try.

Those grocery store rotisserie chickens can be great for just cutting up and eating, or shredding for other chicken dishes. But they can be on the pricey side. It’s definitely much cheaper to pick up a whole chicken from the store that hasn’t been cooked. But what are you to do if you don’t have a rotisserie, or you don’t have the time to bake it in the oven? It turns out all you need to do is grab your crock pot and some aluminum foil. Just tear a 6-8 pieces of aluminum foil and scrunch them into balls. Then place them at the bottom of your crock pot. These foil balls are what will stop your chicken from being too near the heated surface, so your chicken won’t dry out while it’s cooking!

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Rinse your whole chicken inside and out, then place it in a large bowl, breast side down. Give it a good sprinkle with your favorite chicken seasonings (salt and pepper are a must, but why not try garlic powder, onion powder, or any other yummy seasonings you’ve got). Flip the chicken over and season liberally on the other side as well.

Next, just toss that bird breast side up on the aluminum foil balls in the crock pot. Set your crock pot on low and forget about the chicken (let it cook) for 7-8 hours. When you take the chicken out of the crock pot, you’re going to be amazed by these results. The chicken should be falling-off-the-bone tender, and it will definitely be just as good – if not better – than that grocery store rotisserie chicken!

Be sure to use up all that chicken in whatever way you’d like for a few meals to come. And when the chicken is all used up, put the carcass with water back in the crock pot to make a lovely chicken stock!